Dylan O’Brien Talks Life Post-‘Teen Wolf’ And ‘Maze Runner’

Sci-fi/fantasy fans know Dylan O’Brien for two roles that he has been playing for years. TV audiences recognize him as Stiles from “Teen Wolf” and movie goers know him as Thomas in “The Maze Runner” trilogy. Soon, he’ll leave both of those roles behind.

While it’s the end of a certain chapter in his career, O’Brien doesn’t seem sad about leaving his most well known characters. “I’m excited to see what comes my way, see what I’m interested in next, and just see what happens,” O’Brien told Vulture. “It’s the first time that I’ll be operating in my career without those two roles, really.”

“It’s good, though, to not have that safety net,” he added.

In 2011, he started playing Stiles Stilinski on MTV’s “Teen Wolf.” It was one of his first jobs ever and led him to scoring the leading role in the “Maze Runner” franchise just a few years later. In September, “Teen Wolf” will air its series finale, and in January, “The Maze Runner: Death Cure” will wrap up the film series.

O’Brien nearly didn’t finish the final “Maze Runner” movie. Last year, the actor was filming the flick in Canada when an accident on set left him injured. He allegedly was filming a stunt with two moving vehicles that somehow went wrong. O’Brien reportedly suffered a concussion, various lacerations and a facial fracture.

Understandably, the New York native wasn’t pumped to return to the “Death Cure” set a year later. There was a point where the 26-year-old wasn’t even sure if he wanted to continue acting. He described his himself as very fragile after his accident. On top of his injuries, he was dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. Eventually, however, the actor decided that he wanted to finish what he started. It also sounds like he’s happy to be finished with his commitments and take his time between projects.

“Nothing inside of you wants to go back to that,” O’Brien told the outlet. “It took a lot of deep searching past those gut instincts that I was having just because of the trauma that I experienced to realize that I did want to finish it.”

Now, however, O’Brien is looking forward to continuing his acting career with new roles. “Coming out of the other side of all this is basically a whole new chapter, and I think I will be going about it differently,” he says. “I’m excited to have more balance going forward. Like, I’m not somebody I don’t think who’s going to do three or four movies a year and feel like I have to constantly pump them out. I think there’s something to be said about pacing yourself.”

It wasn’t just “Teen Wolf” and “Maze Runner” that O’Brien was working on. His first role post injury was in that action film “American Assassin.” The star plays a man who sees his girlfriend killed by terrorists. He joins the CIA to cope with his loss and becomes one of the best young agents. The movie, based on Vince Flynn’s bestselling novel, co-stars Michael Keaton and Taylor Kitsch.

After “American Assassin” comes out Sept. 15, “Teen Wolf” ends Sept. 24 and “The Maze Runner: Death Cure” releases Jan. 28, it sounds like O’Brien will take some time to carefully choose his next big role.